Category Archives: Green Movement

Sunday March 31st, 2013 – According to reports from Kaleme, opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi and his wife Zahra Rahnavard have been rendered incommunicado as of the beginning of Persian New Year, March 21st, 2013 when their daughters were granted a short visit with them on the occasion of Norooz.

Mir Hossein Mousavi and Zahra Rahnavard have been denied all visitation with family members and any phone contact since their daughters were allowed a short visit, under extremely tight security measures on the first day of Norooz. This short visit reportedly took place in a building across from Mousavi and Rahnavard’s residence. The security apparatus has not only banned the opposition leader and his wife from any contact with their daughters during the Norooz holidays, but have also denied Zahra Rahnavard the right to visit with her mother. As a result, Mousavi and Rahnavard have once again been isolated as of the beginning of the New Year.

This is the third consecutive year in which Mir Hossein Mousavi, Mehdi Karroubi and Zahra Rahnavard have been detained and under illegal house arrest; a house arrest that has continued despite the ruling establishment’s denial of the opposition leaders to a fair and public trial and all basic rights afforded prisoners under Iran’s constitution.

Assuming you succeed in silencing the entire nation for a few days through arrests, violence, threats and the closure of tens of newspapers and media outlets, how will you address the change in the nation’s view of the ruling establishment? How will you compensate for the lack of legitimacy of the entire system of government? How do you propose to change the surprise and reproach felt by the international community towards the brutalities and violence [our] government has perpetrated against its own people? How will you resolve the ever increasing economic challenges facing our nation and the financial hardships facing our citizens as a result of the government’s persistent incompetence? With what competencies and skill sets, what level of national unity and what effective foreign policy measures do you intend to protect our country from the threats of international resolutions and the demands for further concessions by the international community?

Mir Hossein Mousavi – Statement Number 17
January 1st, 2010

(Picture: Journalists arrested following the nightly raid on January 27th, 2013 of the reformist newspapers Shargh, Etemaad, Bahar and the weekly periodical Asemaan)

Why must the most important affairs of our country be hidden from our citizens? Entrusting people with the nation’s affairs and ensuring information transparency are the first steps towards confronting corruption. Alas [today] our citizens are not even entrusted with reading the news in a handful of newspapers.

If an individual loses faith in the regime yet acts within the framework of the law, we have no right to treat him as though he has been deprived of his rights as a citizen. I don’t believe in setting [arbitrary] preconditions for myself nor am I quick to delineate, labeling individuals as pro or anti regime, or categorizing citizens as insiders versus outsiders.

“Stop oppressing and humiliating our citizens! We cannot accuse people [of a crime] because of their political beliefs or any other belief for that matter. We cannot accuse people [of a crime] because of their ethnicity, or because they do not believe in God, or because they are not Muslims. We must refrain from segregating the various segments across our nation, for if we make such delineations, what is to become of a country with such diverse ethnicity and a wide range of [political and social ] affiliations? ”

Why must every simple dilemma or problem be resolved through security measures? Why do we use the slightest excuse to exclude people from our inner circle? Why make judgments such as this individual is too young. the other is too much of an artist. This one is too much of an intellectual; the other has differing tastes than ours. This one’s a student; the other is too critical of us. This one doesn’t belong to our group; the other is too tall, or too chic. Such a mentality will only alienate people, rendering us isolated and alone. This is not the way of the Islamic Republic, nor is it in accordance with the teachings of Islam, a religion that embraces anyone who declares unity with God.Mir Hossein Mousavi Statement Number 9